Device for data and/or signal transmission

Abstract

The invention relates a device (10) for data and/or signal transmission between two adjacent units of a multi-membered, track-guided vehicle combination, wherein the device (10) comprises at least one emitter (11) for emitting electromagnetic radiation as needed. According to the invention, the at least one emitter (11) is integrated into a lamp module (1) which is designed to be installed in a front region of a vehicle (A, B) of the multi-membered vehicle combination.

Claims

1. A device for data or signal transmission between two adjacent units of a multi-membered track-guided vehicle combination, the device comprising: at least one emitter configured to emit electromagnetic radiation, wherein the at least one emitter is integrated into a lamp module configured to be installed in a front region of a vehicle of the multi-membered track-guided vehicle combination; at least one receiver configured to receive and covert an electromagnetic signal into a corresponding electrical data signal; wherein the at least one receiver is configured to receive at least a portion of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the at least one emitter, wherein a distance to an object adjacent to the at least one emitter is determined based on the at least the portion of the electromagnetic radiation received by the at least one receiver, and wherein the object is closer to the at least one emitter than to the at least one receiver.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one emitter includes a laser emitting diode array having at least one laser emitting diode.

3. The device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one electro-optical signal converter allocated to the at least one emitter and configured to convert a data signal into a corresponding electromagnetic signal to be sent by the at least one emitter.

4. The device according to claim 1 further comprising at least one multiplexer unit allocated to the at least one emitter and configured to multiplex multiple signals to be sent by the at least one emitter.

5. The device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one demultiplexer unit allocated to the at least one receiver and configured to separate multiple bundled signals received by the at least one receiver as an electromagnetic signal.

6. The device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one electro-optical signal converter allocated to the at least one receiver and configured to convert an electromagnetic signal received by the at least one receiver into a corresponding data signal.

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the electro-optical signal converter includes a signal/data interface via which the electro-optical signal converter is connected to a data bus.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein the lamp module includes at least one main beam headlight or at least one signal light.

9. The device according to claim 8, wherein the at least one main beam headlight or the at least one signal light is at least partially formed by an LED array.

10. The device according to claim 8, wherein the lamp module is part of an exterior light assembly or is formed as an exterior light assembly.

11. The device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one emitter includes a light-emitting diode array having at least one light-emitting diode.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein the at least one light-emitting diode is part of an LED array of a light module of the lamp module.

13. The device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one receiver includes an assembly having at least one photodiode or at least one PIN-photodiode.

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein the at least one photodiode or the at least one PIN-photodiode is implemented in an LED array of a light module of the lamp module.

15. A lamp module comprising: a receiver, configured to receive at least a portion of electromagnetic radiation emitted by an emitter and convert the received electromagnet radiation into a data signal, wherein the lamp module is configured to be installed in a front region of a vehicle of a multi-membered track-guided vehicle combination; and wherein a distance to an object adjacent to the emitter is determined based on the at least the portion of the electromagnetic radiation received by the at least one receiver, and wherein the object is closer to the at least one emitter than to the at least one receiver.

16. The lamp module according to claim 15, wherein the at least one receiver includes an assembly having at least one photodiode or at least one PIN-photodiode.

17. The lamp module according to claim 16, wherein the at least one photodiode or the at least one PIN-photodiode is implemented in an LED array of a light module of the lamp module.

18. The lamp module according to claim 15, wherein the emitter is part of a different lamp module.

Description

(1) The following will reference the accompanying drawings in describing exemplary embodiments of the inventive solution in greater detail:

(2) Shown are:

(3) FIG. 1 a frontal view of the front region of a track-guided vehicle, wherein both sides of the front region are equipped with a lamp module;

(4) FIG. 2 a schematic detailed view of a lamp module which can be utilized in the front region of the track-guided vehicle as per FIG. 1;

(5) FIG. 3 a schematic view of an exemplary embodiment of an optical data and/or signal transmission device integrated into the lamp module according to FIG. 2; and

(6) FIG. 4 a schematic view of an optical data and/or signal transmission between two adjacent units of a multi-membered, track-guided vehicle combination.

(7) Both sides of the frontal region of a track-guided vehicle, in particular railway vehicle, as depicted schematically in FIG. 1 show a respective lamp module 1 which will be described further in the following referencing the depiction provided in FIG. 2. The lamp module 1 comprises a lower light module 3 for a main beam headlight as well as an upper light module 2 for a signal light.

(8) The two light modules 2, 3 of the respective lamp module 1 are preferably of substantially uniform design. Meaning that they are of substantially the same size, the same form, have an equally dimensioned and formed illumination area, the same angle of radiation and the like. This uniformity to the light modules 2, 3 can preferably also apply solely within subgroups of the light modules 2, 3; in other words, there can be one, two or more types/subtypes/forms of light modules 2, 3 in the structure of one light module 1.

(9) Each of the light modules 2, 3, in particular the light modules of one subgroup, preferably further have the same chromaticity coordinate and/or the same angle of radiation as lamp module 1 is to have. FIG. 1 accordingly indicates the resulting angle of radiation or illumination respectively for the lamp modules 1.

(10) The embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 makes use of a combined exterior lamp consisting of a main beam headlight (lower light module 3) and a signal light or respectively marker light (upper light module 2) as lamp module 1. It is however of course also conceivable to make use of just one single light module able to be accordingly switched between two modes of operation for the lamp module 1.

(11) The light modules 2, 3 can preferably furthermore be operated in (at least) two modes of operation, for example undimmed and dimmed. This for example enables the main beam headlight (lower light module 3) and the signal light (upper light module 2) to each also be operated as a low-beam light at reduced light intensity.

(12) It is apparent from the detailed depiction in FIG. 2 that the lamp module 1 used in the frontal region of the track-guided vehicle according to FIG. 1 comprises respective light modules 2, 3 realized as LED arrays, in particular an upper LED array for the signal light and a lower LED array for the main beam headlight.

(13) Further to be seen from the FIG. 2 depiction is that the LED arrays of signal light and main beam headlight are arranged at a distance next to or above each other, whereby when viewed from the front, the signal light LED array is arranged above the main beam headlight LED array.

(14) An optical data and/or signal transmission device 10 is provided in the area between the LED array for the signal light and the LED array for the main beam headlight in the exemplary embodiments depicted in the drawings. This consists of a plurality of emitters 11 for the as-needed emitting of electromagnetic radiation as well as a plurality of receivers 12 designed to receive the electromagnetic radiation emitted by an emitter 11. The emitters 11 and receivers 12 in the embodiment depicted for example in FIG. 2 are disposed in alternating arrangement with one another. Other arrangements are however of course also possible.

(15) The lamp module 1 schematically depicted in FIG. 2 further comprises a control device 20 in order to applicably control the respective LED arrays of the lamp module 1.

(16) Preferably, the control system associated with the optical data and/or signal transmission device 10 is also accommodated in the control device 20 of the lamp module 1. This in particular includes an electro-optical signal converter associated with the emitters 11 of the optical data and/or signal transmission device 10, an electro-optical signal converter associated with the receivers 12 of the optical data and/or signal transmission device 10, a multiplexer unit associated with the emitters 11 of the optical data and/or signal transmission device 10 and/or a demultiplexer unit associated with the receivers 12 of the optical data and/or signal transmission device 10.

(17) The respective emitters 11 of the optical data and/or signal transmission device 10 are preferably implemented as laser diodes and/or LEDs, in particular infrared LEDs. Preferably, the emitters 11 operate in the non-visible frequency range so as to prevent any interference with the conventional vehicle lights/conventional lamp module 1.

(18) The respective receivers 12 of the optical data and/or signal transmission device 10 are thereby photodiodes/PIN photodiodes, their sensitivity adapted to the frequency range of the emitters 11 of the optical data and/or signal transmission device 10.

(19) As can be seen from the FIG. 3 depiction, the optical data and/or signal transmission device 10 (=optical transceiver unit) depicted schematically therein comprises an LED array for data transmission as emitter 11, a photodiode array for receiving data as receiver 12, and a converter unit 13 for the back and forth conversion of a standardized data signal into a corresponding high-frequency light signal.

(20) A data interface unit 14 connects the optical data and/or signal transmission device 10 to a standardized data bus connection. This optical data and/or signal transmission device 10 already enables full data transmission within a definable distance between two adjacent units of a multi-membered vehicle combination.

(21) Integrating a distance control for controlling the integration of the two coupled vehicle units/vehicle components in the optical data and/or signal transmission device 10 is also conceivable and would create additional benefit.

(22) A wired Ethernet gigabit link (e.g. 1000 BASE-T, IEEE802.2, clause 40) is for example employed as the data bus connection.

(23) Power is preferably supplied to the optical data and/or signal transmission device 10 by PoE (Power-over-Ethernet) via the data bus connection itself. The process can optionally also be of optical fiber-connected or radio-based (wireless) design. A coupling to other digital data transmission media can thereby then take place directly.

(24) As stated above, the LED array forming the receiver 12 of the optical data and/or signal transmission device 10 advantageously consists of infrared lamps so as not to negatively impact the (visible) spectrum produced by the vehicle's headlight and tail light since characteristic values such as the luminous intensity and chromaticity coordinate for vehicle lights are usually subject to standardized requirements.

(25) One preferential embodiment for the LED array consists of utilizing laser diodes (coherent light sources) in place of LEDs since doing so can achieve high radiation intensity and good directivity. Laser diodes of laser class 1 are advantageously utilized for this implementation in order to ensure the highest possible safety of the operating personnel. Data transmission with laser diodes ensues via luminous intensity modulation at a specific operating point (BIAS-T) within a converter unit 13.

(26) As indicated in FIG. 1, the lamp modules 1, in which the inventive optical data and/or signal transmission device 10 is integrated, are respectively arranged on the direction of travel's right and left. The angles of illumination of the lamp modules 1 are selected such that there is always a sufficient optical coupling between the emitters 11 and the receivers 12 for reliable data transmission, particularly in curves (cornering).

(27) The specific arrangement of the lamp modules 1 additionally provides for redundancy with respect to the data transmission since the transmission devices (emitter 11 and receiver 12) of the optical data and/or signal transmission device 10 are doubled. The train-side convergence of both data signals into one physical channel can advantageously ensue by means of a suitable Ethernet switch (e.g. RST (Rapid Spanning Tree) Protocol).

(28) FIG. 4 depicts two trainsets A, B of a multi-membered vehicle combination mechanically coupled together by respective central buffer couplings 5, 5, wherein the right (leading) trainset A exchanges data via its lamp module 1 (here: tail light) with the left (led) vehicle B by way of the lamp module 1 (here: headlight) associated with said vehicle B. The data communication thereby runs bidirectionally (dual channel) via the optical signals.

(29) The advantages achievable with the inventive solution are again summarized below as follows: Elimination of highly specialized data connections in the electrical train coupling, with the electrical train couplings thereby being able to be realized more economically, more robustly and more maintenance-friendly. Cost-effective relocating of the data transmission to the existing train lighting protected against external weather as provided on every rail vehicle. If applicable, even being able to transmit different data streams as bundles in multi-channel/multiplex processes due to the very high optical channel bandwidths. Advantageous optical coupling ratios for coupled train units as the distance from tail light (preceding, leading vehicle) to headlight (following, led vehicle) is relatively small; contamination problems can thereby be controlled by intensity, focusing and redundancy concepts (i.e. multi-part train lighting). LED train lighting usually comprises heating devices which prevent snow and ice build-up on the lamps. The optical coupling thereby remains unaffected even during adverse weather conditions. More favorable electromagnetic compatibility properties, particularly resistance to inference relative outdoor radio/wireless solutions or rail radio/radio-based train control systems. An additional benefit of the data transmission device in the train lighting results from feasible distance detection (in particular Doppler effect) of both train components so as to monitor the integrity of the vehicle combination for the purpose of detecting train detachment and train separation.

(30) The lamp modules 1 utilized during the data and/or signal transmission in accordance with FIG. 4 are realized as an exterior light assembly and in this exemplary embodiment comprise two exterior lights: a main beam headlight as the first exterior light and a marker light (e.g. white signal light or red tail light) as the second exterior light. The two exterior lights are arranged in a lamp housing behind a lamp cover which is of at least partially transparent design and preferably detachably affixed. It is of course also possible for the first exterior light to be designed as a marker light and the second exterior light as a headlight or an exterior light assembly to only be provided with one exterior light (headlight or marker light).

(31) The beam angle of the main beam headlight is, if possible, not limited in the downward direction by walls or the like. This allows the main beam headlight to produce a suitable cone of light in compliance with the regulations allowing for the special conditions in the area of the front nose of the track-guided vehicle.

(32) The light modules 2, 3 of the exterior lighting are powered by the on-board voltage of the track-guided vehicle.

(33) The invention is not limited to the embodiments depicted in the drawings but rather yields from an integrated consideration of all the features disclosed herein.